‘Perfections’ (Anagram) is only 160 pages, but Italian author Vincenzo Latronico (Roma, 1984) is more than adequate to describe it as few novels do. generation instagramThe crisis of ideals that Europe is going through and this new kind of extractor elite We know digital nomads very well in Barcelona.
All of this is embodied by Anna and Tom, a handsome Italian young professional couple living in Berlin with a design life that alternates between working at a laptop, partying, and opening exhibitions at alternative art galleries in the East. Like almost everyone else, Anna and Tom spend a lot of time on social media. “I wanted to write a novel about this experience. A life completely swallowed by digital. Our entire world, including our inner dimension, is deeply determined by this constant stream of images and words, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed,” explains the author. “This affects our dreams, how we express ourselves and how we relate to each other, as well as our political ideas.”
The novel chronicles the daily life of Anna and Tom, who live immersed in two levels of reality, “the real one and the digital media bubble that is quite similar among expats from Barcelona or Milan,” with remote and eloquent precision. sign. “At the same time, this process is quite similar to the gentrification of cities. It’s as if nets have ennobled our interiors,” he thinks.
Besides being the first novel about digital nomads, ‘Perfections’ accomplishes something else, and that is capturing it. pangs of dissatisfaction that networks cause us a very specific type of anxiety where we “feel like something is being stolen” and we “become obsessed with what is authentic” because compared to what we see on screen, the truth almost always seems inadequate”.
Maximize profit extraction
“I think we still need a word to describe how we feel,” says Latronico, who examines like a forensic doctor (his style has earned him many commendable comparisons). ‘Things’ Written by Georges Perec) The homogeneity of Anna and Tom’s lives, starting with the decoration of their apartment. monsterScandinavian armchair, outdated copies of ‘Monocle’ and ‘The New Yorker’, sprouted avocado seed: who hasn’t been in an apartment like this at some point?
According to Latronico there are several types of homogeneity. There is the globalized one, the thing that comes from the top down and makes all McDonald’s in the world look the same and the streets look the same without any prior general coordination in Stockholm, Berlin or Milan. However, there is another genre that interests you the most and is described in the book, which is “bottom-up homogeneity”.
“Just as there are mathematicians all over the world who unknowingly develop the same theorem, we see them everywhere trying to find individual solutions to the same problem: how to maximize profits. Main yeast pizza provides more benefits than regular pizza. Craft beer provides more benefits than regular beer. You’ll make more money on Airbnb than renting an apartment for a family. And all of this happens without central planning. This is the convergence of the West,” he says. Meanwhile, Anna and Tom are going to rent out their low-rent flat in Berlin and move to Lisbon.
A permanent Erasmus
One year after the 2008 crisis, Latronico came to the German capital, worked there as an art critic, and, in his own words, started off with a laugh: “A Erasmus 10 years” It’s a typical place with mandatory stops frequented by Anna and Tom: nights in Berghain and Tresor, afternoons in Prenzlauerberg, sunrises in Panoramabar and harsh winters with desertions. Kidding aside, this is the historical impact a city has had on many. hedonistic, cheap and bohemianWhere discos are open nonstop from Thursday to Sunday.
The constant partying freezes the clock for many, especially if you don’t have kids. “I was interested in reflecting the permanent Erasmus feeling. Be 35 and still live like you’re 23 or 27”, explains Latronico. “You go to ‘scroll’ and it seems like time never goes by; just now, now and now. But the world continues on its way in parallel. History happens, and sometimes it does it so violently that it manages to break that “scroll,” he explains, citing several historical events that managed to sneak into the lives of Ana and Tom, such as the immigration crisis. Aylan’s deathEvents the algorithm decides to include in a ‘bait’ filled with sunsets, close-ups of seed salads, and home fermentation jars.
digital numbness
Much has been written about how social networks function as a silent but very effective solvent of class consciousness and replace political activity. Latronico a housing activist For years he has been recreating the harmlessness of activism in Milan and in the novel with a ‘taste’. “soldier tiredrings for hours. Reality emerges when you get used to living in this online environment disappointment. You can make a post against climate change and get 50,000 likes in two hours. But changing things militarily is almost always frustrating and tiring”.
What can it wake us up from? digital numbness? “I think reality will slap housing crisisThis is already affecting the middle class. Previously, few high school teachers were able to lead a normal life: an apartment, having children, a car. A couple with these qualities in Barcelona, Berlin or Milan can’t even afford a 25 m² studio right now. soon or later will explode” he guesses.
There’s a cute role in ‘Las perfecciones’ TempelhofSymbolic airport, no longer in use, with almost 400 coveted hectares standing in the middle of Germany’s capital city. “It is an endless field liberated by history. [fue escenario de mítines nazis y clave durante el bloqueo del Berlín occidental] and full of potential. It also reflects a tremendous privilege. Many believe it should be built alongside social housing, while others believe it should continue as a public park.” “For me it must be symbol of BerlinIt is not the Brandenburg Gate,” he concludes.